“Welcome to Kerenza, Cherry.”
INCEPT: 08/17/75 09:17
Steph PARK: what the **** was that???
Bruno WAY: hello yourself.
Steph PARK: **** you, Bruno.
Bruno WAY: :(
Asha GRANT: r u ok, Steph? U safe?
Joran KARALIS: Calm down, everyone. What was what?
Steph PARK: that ****ing explosion? didn’t u hear it??
Joran KARALIS: We’re pulling eighteen-hour shifts at the mine, Steph. You don’t hear much when you’re five klicks under the ice shelf and twenty klicks from the action.
Steph PARK: well some1 rigged a fuel tanker to pop. do you know how close I was?? an entire LOCUST is gone. 13 dead. Asha, they’re bringing the bodies ur way.
Asha GRANT: aaaawesome. just what I need this week. Another autopsy.
Steph PARK: i thought we were going to communicate about this ****. since when are we setting bombs at the airfield??
Bruno WAY: gotta admit, when I heard that boom I thought u set it off, Steph.
Steph PARK: Me????
Bruno WAY: u work at the stadium, u’ve got access to the landing pads.
Steph PARK: look, I’m not saying blowing a few more of these *******s to hell isn’t a good idea. i been suggesting that for months now. but I’d have cleared it with you all first
Asha GRANT: we don’t even know if this was one of our people. BeiTech’s gear is 7 months in the snow now. could’ve been a tech failure
Steph PARK: riiiight, like that air-con failure that wasted thirty-seven of their officers??
Bruno WAY: let’s look on the bright side. We’re all ok. and that happy little accident in the town hall took most of their tech specialists with it u know.
Steph PARK: my point exactly. too good to be true.
Asha GRANT: Maybe we deserve a little good luck
Steph PARK: luck my ***. they’ll just bring down more techheads from Magellan to replace the ones they lost.
Asha GRANT: they’re gonna run out of em sooner or later
Bruno WAY: so if it wasn’t an accident, is this someone in the resistance going rogue you think? Someone from the mine maybe?
Joran KARALIS: no way, my guys are solid. Nobody down here is risking anything this stupid. Our families are on the line. I’ve got a wife and daughter locked up in Complex C, and bull**** like this risks everyone’s safety.
Steph PARK: we don’t all have families held hostage, Joran
Bruno WAY: hey, everyone breathe. Joran, of course we take the hostages seriously. We all have people we miss. I think about Jenna every day.
Steph PARK: not everybody had their loved ones get out on the evac fleet either, Bruno
Bruno WAY: Steph, Hans wouldn’t have wanted u to throw your life away, u know that.
Steph PARK: AND I DIDN’T!! that explosion wasn’t me! but we all know damn well they’re going to shoot every one of us sooner or later.
Joran KARALIS: It might end up being sooner than we think. Just heard from Monty. The warp storm has apparently dispersed enough for them to get stellar comms back online.
Joran KARALIS: We think BeiTech got a message out.
Steph PARK: ****.
Asha GRANT: ****.
Bruno WAY: ****.
Asha GRANT: we HAVE to find out what it said. hell, we have to find out if anybody received it.
Joran KARALIS: Yes, but how?
Steph PARK: if they got in touch with BT HQ, we’re screwed. I mean, even at light speed, it’ll take a while for the message to reach the heimdall gate and get out into the core, but sooner or later, we’re into the final countdown.
Joran KARALIS: We may be anyway. They’re pushing us hard in the mine. I think they’re getting close to the quota of hermium they need.
Steph PARK: they must be close to getting the Magellan’s jump gate generator functioning. as soon as they have enough hermium to jump the system, it’s curtains for us.
Bruno WAY: we don’t know that. They keep saying they’re gonna evac everybody
Steph PARK: and you believe that? After what they’ve done?
Bruno WAY: it’s not impossible. I mean, who are we going to complain to about what they did? The UTA? “Excuse me, but BeiTech came and ****ed me while I was busy illegally mining hermium, but their lawbreaking was worse than mine…”
Bruno WAY: they know we won’t tell anyone, so yes, I believe it’s at least possible
Asha GRANT: i have to go soon, my dead people will be incoming
Joran KARALIS: We have to find out who’s setting these bombs.
Steph PARK: forget the bombs, we need to know what was in that transmission!
Asha GRANT: we’ve got no access to their comms array
Steph PARK: this is exactly why we need to take more direct action. stealth hit the comms station + find out direct
Joran KARALIS: No, it’s too risky. Our families are on the line, dammit.
Steph PARK: and where do you think they’ll be when the Magellan is ready to jump, Joran?
Steph PARK: against the ****ing wall, that’s where
Bruno WAY: let’s not talk like that, okay?
Joran KARALIS: We’re no good to anyone dead!
Steph PARK: and what good are we if all we do is sit around and chat???
Joran KARALIS: We have to be cautious!
Steph PARK: u and your caution can get ****ed, Joran.
<Steph PARK has left the conversation.>
Joran KARALIS: Goddamm it. Break is over. I have to go. Keep your ears open. And keep calm for crissakes. We’ll talk soon.
<Joran KARALIS has left the conversation.>
Bruno WAY: ok that went well
Asha GRANT: better than last meet
Bruno WAY: :P
Asha GRANT: …Bruno, u think Steph did it?